JP2007228609A - Recording medium, reproducing device, recording method, reproducing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording medium capable of achieving random access in a slide show at high speed. <P>SOLUTION: In a BD-ROM, an AVClip and Clip information are recorded. The AVClip contains a plurality of picture data and the Clip information contains an EP-map and a flag indicating an application-type. The EP-map contains a plurality of low-order bit entries indicating low-order bits in the address of picture data in accordance with the reproduction time of the picture data and as the application type, there are an application of movie and an application of a time based slide show. If the flag is set to a predetermined value meaning the time based slide show, each piece of picture data in the AVClip is pointed to each low-order bit entry in the EP-map. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention belongs to the technical field of random access technology.

Random access technology is a technology that converts an arbitrary point in time on a digital stream into a recording position on the digital stream and starts playback from that recording position. BD-ROM and DVD- This is a fundamental technology that is indispensable when playing back a digital stream recorded on a recording medium such as Video.
The digital stream is encoded by a variable length encoding method such as MPEG2-Video or MPEG4-AVC, and the amount of information per frame varies. For this reason, when performing random access, it is necessary to refer to the entry map when performing the above-described conversion. Here, the entry map is information indicating a plurality of entry times on the time axis in association with a plurality of entry positions in the digital stream, and the plurality of entry times in the entry map has a time accuracy of 1 second. The random access with a time accuracy of 1 second can be performed with high efficiency.

In random access to a video stream, it is necessary to search for an I (Intra) picture existing at the head of the GOP. There is a prior art described in the following patent document regarding a data structure that supports searching for an I picture.
JP 2000-228656 A

  Applications that have a time axis include a slide show in addition to movies. A slide show is an application that is composed of a plurality of still images, and each still image is reproduced along a predetermined time axis. Since the slide show also has a time axis for playback, a plurality of entry times on the time axis are shown in association with the entry positions, so that an arbitrary point on the time axis can be displayed on the stream. The recording position can be derived, and reproduction from the recording position can be executed.

  However, since a slide show is composed of still images, it requires random access with higher accuracy than movies. High-accuracy random access is random access using “one picture” as an access unit, such as one image ahead or 10 images ahead. An entry map of a video stream has a time accuracy of about 1 second such as an interval of 1 second, and 20 to 30 pictures can be included in the time interval of 1 second. For this reason, when attempting to achieve random access with picture accuracy using the above-described entry map, it is not sufficient to refer to the entry map alone, and analysis of the stream is required.

  “Stream analysis” here refers to extracting the picture header from the entry position described in the entry map, reading the picture size from this header, and determining the recording position of the next picture based on the size. The process of specifying is repeated many times to reach the desired picture recording position. Since this analysis involves frequent access to the stream, it takes a considerable amount of time to read out the pictures 3 and 5 pictures ahead from the entry position. Random access with picture accuracy takes a considerable amount of time, so even if you try to add a function that can display the previous or next picture or display about 10 pictures in response to the user's operation, There is a problem that it is not easy to use as expected.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a recording medium capable of realizing random access in a slide show at high speed.

  In order to achieve the above object, a recording medium according to the present invention is a recording medium on which a video stream and stream management information are recorded. The video stream includes a plurality of picture data, and the stream management information includes an entry. The entry map includes a map and a flag indicating an application type. The entry map includes a plurality of lower bit entries indicating the lower bits of the address of the picture data in association with the reproduction time of the picture data. If there is an application, a time-based slide show application, and the flag is set to a predetermined value that means a time-based slide show, individual picture data in the video stream is represented by individual lower bit entries in the entry map. Has been pointed at Lee, it is characterized in that.

  When the flag in the stream management information is set to a predetermined value that means time-based slide show, each picture data in the video stream is pointed at each lower bit entry in the entry map, so one picture Even if picture-accurate random access is required, such as three pictures ahead, picture-accurate random access can be realized without analyzing the video stream.

The recording position on the video stream can be derived from an arbitrary point on the time axis, and random access with picture accuracy of one or three pictures ahead can be realized, so that it can respond quickly to user operations. It is possible to create an application that can display the previous and next pictures or can display several pictures.
Even if the data structure of the entry map for the slide show is the same as the data structure of the entry map for the movie, the playback device performs the same playback control as the movie playback, and the flag is set in the time-based slide show application. Only when it indicates that there is, it is sufficient to execute random access with picture accuracy. The playback apparatus can realize picture-accurate random access while maintaining compatibility with video playback. As a result, it is possible to promote the spread of a playback apparatus having both functions of moving image playback and slide show playback.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, embodiments of the recording medium according to the present invention will be described. First of all, a description will be given of a usage act among implementation actions of a recording medium according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a form of usage of a recording medium according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a recording medium according to the present invention is a BD-ROM 100. The BD-ROM 100 is used for supplying movie works to a home theater system formed by a playback device 200, a remote controller 300, and a television 400.

The BD-ROM is shown in the fourth level of the figure, and the tracks on the BD-ROM are shown in the third level. The track in this figure is drawn by extending the track formed in a spiral shape from the inner periphery to the outer periphery of the BD-ROM in the horizontal direction. This track includes a lead-in area, a volume area, and a lead-out area. The volume area in this figure has a layer model of a physical layer, a file system layer, and an application layer. When the application layer format (application format) of the BD-ROM is expressed using the directory structure, it becomes like the first level in the figure. In the first stage, the BD-ROM has a BDMV directory under the Root directory.

Under the BDMV directory, the PLAYLIST directory, CLIPINF directory, STREAM
There are three subdirectories called directories.
The STREAM directory is a directory that stores a group of files serving as a digital stream body, and includes files (00001.m2ts, 00002.m2ts, 00003.m2ts) with extensions m2ts.

The PLAYLIST directory includes files (00001.mpls, 00002.mpls, 00003mpls) with extensions mpls.
In the CLIPINF directory, there are files (00001.clpi, 00002.clpi, 00003.clpi) with extensions clpi.
<Configuration of AVClip>
Next, the file with the extension .m2ts will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing how the file with the extension .m2ts is configured. Extension .m2ts
A file (00001.m2ts, 00002.m2ts, 00003.m2ts,. AVClip (fourth stage) converts a video stream composed of a plurality of video frames (pictures pj1, 2, 3) and an audio stream composed of a plurality of audio frames (first stage) into a PES packet sequence (first stage). The second stage) is further converted into TS packets (third stage) and multiplexed.

Note that a caption presentation graphics stream (PG stream) and an interactive interactive graphics stream (IG stream) may be multiplexed on the AVClip. In addition, subtitle data (text subtitle stream) expressed by a text code may be recorded as an AVClip.
Next, how the AVClip, which is a digital stream in the MPEG2-TS format, is written on the BD-ROM will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a process through which TS packets constituting an AVClip are written on a BD-ROM. The TS packet constituting the AVClip is shown in the first row in the figure.

TS packets constituting the AVClip are assigned TS_extra_header (“EX” in the figure) as shown in the second row.
The third level and the fourth level indicate the correspondence between the physical unit of the BD-ROM and the TS packet. As shown in the fourth row, a plurality of sectors are formed on the BD-ROM. TS packets with extra_header (hereinafter abbreviated as TS packets with EX) are grouped every 32 and written in three sectors. A group consisting of 32 EX-attached TS packets is 6144 bytes (= 32 × 192), which matches three sector sizes of 6144 bytes (= 2048 × 3). Thirty-two EX-attached TS packets stored in three sectors are called “AlignedUnit”, and when writing to the BD-ROM, encryption is performed in units of Aligned Units.

In the fifth stage, error correction codes are added in units of 32 sectors to constitute an ECC block. As long as the playback device accesses the BD-ROM in units of Aligned Units, it can obtain 32 completed TS packets with EX. The above is the process of writing AVClip to the BD-ROM.
<Video stream>
The internal structure of the video stream will be described. FIG. 5 shows the internal structure of the video stream. There are two types of video streams: those used by movies and those used by slide shows. In this embodiment, the video streams used in these movies and slide shows are common in that they are encoded by MPEG4-AVC. That is, it is common in terms of the encoding method.

FIG. 5A is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a video stream used for a movie. The video stream in FIG. 5A is composed of a plurality of pictures arranged in the encoding order.
I, P, and B in the figure mean an I picture, a B picture, and a P picture, respectively. There are two types of I pictures: IDR pictures and Non-IDR I pictures. Non-IDRI pictures, P pictures, and B pictures are compression-encoded based on the frame correlation with other pictures. A B picture refers to a picture composed of Bidirectionally Predictive (B) format slice data, and a P picture refers to a picture composed of Predictive (P) format slice data. B pictures include a refrence B picture and a nonrefrence B picture.

In FIG. 5A, the Non-IDR I picture is described as “I”, and the IDR picture is described as “IDR”. Hereinafter, the same notation is used. The above is a video stream used for a movie.
Next, the internal structure of the IDR picture and Non-IDR I picture will be described. FIG. 6A shows the internal structure of the IDR picture. As shown in the figure, an IDR picture is composed of a plurality of intra format slice data. FIG. 6B shows the internal structure of the Non-IDRI picture. An IDR picture is composed only of intra-format slice data, whereas a Non-IDR I-picture is composed of intra-format slice data, P-format slice data, and B-format slice data. FIG. 6C shows the dependency relationship in the Non-IDRI picture. Since the Non-IDR I picture can be composed of B and P slice data, it can have a dependency relationship with other pictures.

<Recording to BD-ROM>
Next, how IDR pictures and Non-IDR I pictures are converted into TS packets and recorded on a BD-ROM will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a process in which an IDR picture and a Non-IDRI picture are converted into TS packets. The first level in the figure shows an IDR picture and a Non-IDR I picture. The second level shows an AccessUnit defined in MPEG4-AVC. Multiple slice data composing IDR picture and Non-IDR I picture are arranged sequentially, and AUD (Access Unit Delimiter), SPS (Sequence Parameter Set), PPS (Picture Parameter Set), SEI (Supplemental Enhanced info) are added. Thus, it is converted into an Access Unit.

Each of AUD, SPS, PPS, SEI, and Access Unit is information defined in MPEG4-AVC and is described in various documents such as ITU-TRecommendationH.264. For details, refer to these documents. Please refer. What is important here is that the supply of AUD, SPS, PPS, and SEI to the playback apparatus is an indispensable condition for random access.
The third level shows the NAL unit. By adding a header to AUD, SPS, PPS, and SEI in the second stage, AUD, SPS, PPS, SEI, and slice data are converted into NAL units, respectively. NAL unit is a unit defined in the MPEG4-AVC network abstraction layer (ITU-T).
Recommendations are described in various documents such as H.264. Refer to these documents for details. What is important here is that AUD, SPS, PPS, SEI, and slice data are converted into independent NAL units, respectively, so each of AUD, SPS, PPS, SEI, and slice data is Each is handled independently.

Multiple NAL units obtained by converting one picture are PES as shown in the fourth row.
Converted to a packet. Then, it is converted into a TS packet and recorded on the BD-ROM.
In order to reproduce one GOP, an NAL unit that constitutes an IDR picture and a Non-IDR I picture positioned at the head of the GOP must be input to the decoder including an Access Unit Delimiter. That is, the NAL unit including the Access Unit Delimiter is one index for decoding the IDR picture and the Non-IDRI picture. In this embodiment, a NAL unit including this Access Unit Delimiter is handled as a point. Then, when playing back a video stream, the playback device interprets the NAL unit including the AccessUnit Delimiter as an entry position for playing back the Non-IDR I picture and IDR picture. Therefore, in order to execute random access in AVClip, it is very important to know where the Access Unit Delimiter of IDR picture and Non-IDRI picture exists. The above is the configuration of the MPEG4-AVC format video stream used for movies.

<Slide show>
Next, the video stream used for the slide show will be described. FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a video stream used for the slide show. As shown in the figure, the video stream used for the slide show is composed of a plurality of still image data. These still image data are all IDR pictures. In other words, in a slide show, every picture is decoded with an IDR picture so that it can be decoded alone.

The slide show in the present embodiment is a type of slide show (Time-based Slide Show) in which a video stream and an audio stream are multiplexed, and individual still images in the video stream are played back along with the progress of playback of the audio stream.
In a slide show that can be recorded on a BD-ROM, there is another slide show (BrowsableSlideShow) in which playback of a still image proceeds regardless of playback of the audio stream, with no audio stream multiplexed.

Of these, movies and Timebased SlideShow both have a time axis, so we will focus on these subjects.
The internal structure of the video stream that constitutes the slide show will be described.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing how an IDR picture in a slide show is recorded on a BD-ROM. Recording on the BD-ROM is the same as in FIG. In other words, the IDR that makes up the slideshow
Since a picture is composed of a plurality of slice data, each slice data is converted to NAL unit and recorded on a BD-ROM, like an IDR picture of a moving image. The recording shown in this figure is different from that shown in FIG. 7 in that there is an “End of Stream code” at the end of the slice data constituting the picture. This End of Stream code is freezing the decoder operation (Display Frozen)
Is a termination code that instructs the playback device, and is converted into one NAL unit and recorded on the BD-ROM, as with slice data.

As the IDR pictures shown in FIG. 8 are sequentially supplied to the decoder, the slide show is played back as shown in FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the progress of the slide show reproduction. The fourth row in the figure shows a TS packet sequence, and the third row shows a PES packet sequence obtained by converting the fourth-stage TS packet. The second row shows the time axis of the slide show, and the first row shows the individual IDR pictures that make up the slide show. This first-stage IDR picture is displayed at the time indicated by the PTS in the third-stage PES packet. Since the third stage PES packet has the Endof Stream code shown in FIG. 8, the playback apparatus displays the IDR picture at the time indicated by the PTS of the PES packet and then freezes the decoder operation ( DisplayFrozen). This frozen state of the decoder operation will continue until the next IDR picture is displayed. By repeatedly displaying the PES packet at the time indicated by the PTS and freezing the decoder operation using the Endof Stream code, the individual IDR pictures constituting the slide show are sequentially reproduced. The above is the progress of playback of the slide show.

<Clip information>
Next, a file with the extension “.clpi” will be described. Files with the extension .clpi (00001.clpi, 00002.clpi, 00003.clpi...) Store Clip information. Clip information is management information for each AVClip. FIG. 10 shows the internal structure of Clip information. As shown on the left side of this figure, Clip information is
i) “ClipInfo ()” storing attribute information of AVClip file,
ii) “Sequence Info ()”, which stores information about ATC Sequence and STC Sequence
iii) “Program Info ()” that stores information about Program Sequence
iv) Consists of “Characteristic Point Info (CPI ())”.

A lead line cu1 in the figure closes up the configuration of the i-th Program Sequence (Program Sequence (i)). As shown in this leader line, Program
Program Info for Sequence (i) is formed by arranging Ns (i) combinations of Stream_PID and Stream_Coding_Info (Stream_PID [i] (0), Stream_Coding_Info (i, 0) to Stream_PID [i] in the figure) Ns (i) -1), Stream_Coding_Info (i, Ns (i) -1)).

Stream_PID indicates a packet identifier for each elementary stream that configures the AVClip, and Stream_Coding_Info indicates an encoding method for each elementary stream that configures the AVClip.
FIG. 11A shows Stream_Coding_Info for a video stream, and FIG. 11B shows Stream_Coding_Info for an audio stream. As shown in FIG. 11A, the Stream_Coding_Info of the video stream is “Stream_Coding_type” indicating whether the video stream encoding method is MPEG4-AVC or MPEG2-Video, and the video stream display method is 480i. , “576_, 480p, 1080i, 720p, 1080p”, “Video_format” indicating whether the frame rate of the video stream is 23.976 Hz, 29.97 Hz, 59.94 Hz, “picture” in the video stream "Aspect_ratio" indicating whether the aspect ratio of 4: 3 or 16: 9 is included.

FIG.11 (b) shows Stream_Coding_Info about an audio stream. As shown in this figure, Stream_Coding_Info for the audio stream is “Stream_Coding_Type” indicating whether the encoding method of the audio stream is LPCM, Dolby-AC3, or Dts, and the output format of the audio stream is stereo, monaural, or multi It consists of “audio_Presentation_type” indicating which one is, “Sampling_Frenquency” indicating the sampling frequency of the audio stream, and “audio_language_code” indicating the language corresponding to the audio stream.

By referring to this Stream_Coding_Info, it is possible to know which of the plurality of elementary streams in the AVClip is in the MPEG4-AVC format.
<CPI (EP_map)>
Returning to FIG. 10, the CPI will be described. The lead line cu2 in the figure closes up the CPI configuration. As indicated by the lead line cu2, the CPI consists of EP_map. EP_map consists of Ne EP_map_for_one_stream_PID (EP_map_for_one_stream_PID (0) to EP_map_for_one_stream_PID (Ne-1)). These EP_map_for_one_stream_PIDs are AVClip
EP_map for each elementary stream belonging to. EP_map is information indicating the packet number (SPN_EP_start) at the entry position where the AccessUnit Delimiter exists on one elementary stream in association with the entry time (PTS_EP_start). A lead line cu3 in the drawing closes up the internal configuration of EP_map_for_one_stream_PID.

According to this, it can be seen that EP_map_for_one_stream_PID is composed of Nc EP_High (EP_High (0) to EP_High (Nc-1)) and Nf EP_Low (EP_Low (0) to EP_Low (Nf-1)). Here, EP_High has a role representing the upper bits of SPN_EP_start and PTS_EP_start of AccessUnit (Non-IDR I picture, IDR picture), and EP_Low is a lower bit of SPN_EP_start and PTS_EP_start of AccessUnit (Non-IDR I picture, IDR picture) It has a role to show.

A lead line cu4 in the drawing closes up the internal configuration of EP_High. As shown in this lead line, EP_High (i) is “ref_to_EP_Low_id [i]” that is a reference value for EP_Low and “PTS_EP_High [i] that indicates the upper bits of PTS of AccessUnit (Non-IDR I picture, IDR picture). ] And “SPN_EP_High [i]” indicating the upper bits of the SPN of the Access Unit (Non-IDR I picture, IDR picture). Here, i is an identifier for identifying an arbitrary EP_High.

A lead line cu5 in the drawing closes up the EP_Low configuration. As indicated by the lead line cu5, EP_Low includes “is_angle_change_point (EP_Low_id)” indicating whether or not the corresponding Access Unit is an IDR picture, “I_end_position_offset (EP_Low_id)” indicating the size of the corresponding AccessUnit, and the corresponding Access Unit. “PTS_EP_Low (EP_Low_id)” indicating the lower bits of the PTS of (Non-IDR I picture, IDR picture) and “SPN_EP_Low (EP_Low_id) indicating the lower bits of the SPN of the corresponding AccessUnit (Non-IDR I picture, IDR picture) It consists of. Here, EP_Low_id is an identifier for identifying an arbitrary EP_Low.

The data structure of these EP_maps is basically described in the above-mentioned patent documents and the like, and will not be described in further detail in this specification.
Next, Clip info in Clip information will be described. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of Clip info in Clip information. The lead lines in the figure close up the configuration of Clipinfo (). As shown in this leader line, Clip info () includes “clip_stream_type” indicating the type of digital stream, “application_type” indicating the type of application using this AVClip, “TS_recording_rate” and AVClip indicating the recording rate of AVClip. It can be seen that it is composed of “number_of_source_packet” indicating the number of TS packets to be configured. Of these, clip_stream_type indicates whether the AVClip corresponding to this Clip information is MovieApplication, TS for Timebased SlideShow, TS for MainPath of the Browsable SlideShow, or TS for SubPath of the Browsable SlideShow. In particular,
a) When clip_stream_type = 1, this indicates that the type of AVClip is Movie Application.

b) When clip_stream_type = 2, the type of AVClip is TS for Timebased SlideShow
Indicates that
c) When clip_stream_type = 3, it indicates that the type of AVClip is TS for MainPath of the Browsable SlideShow. Here, “MainPath” means a video stream of a combination of a video stream and an audio stream that constitutes a Browsable SlideShow.

d) When clip_stream_type = 4, this indicates that the type of AVClip is TS for SubPath of the Browsable SlideShow. Here, “SubPath” means an audio stream of a combination of a video stream and an audio stream that constitutes a BrowsableSlideShow.
Arrows ct3 and ct4 in FIG. 12 indicate secondary meaning contents brought about by this application_type. The secondary semantic content means what the data structure of EP_map will be when application_type is set to each value.

An arrow ct4 in the figure indicates what data structure the EP_map has when application_type is 1,4. Specifically, if application_type is 1, 4, EP_map is
This means that the interval between two adjacent PTS_EP_start values should be less than 1 second.
An arrow ct3 in the figure indicates what data structure the EP_map has when application_type is 2,3. Specifically, when application_type is 2 or 3, it means that the value of PTS_EP_start is set so as to indicate all the pictures of AVClip. That is, it is guaranteed that all pictures of the AVClip are pointed to by EP_map.

The technical significance of giving such secondary meaning to application_type will be described.
Here, when creating a slide show, setting all picture data as IDR pictures is just one idea. A video stream may be configured by using a P picture compressed using correlation with other pictures and a B picture compressed using correlation with two or more previous and subsequent pictures. Therefore, some authors may try to compose a slide show using P pictures and B pictures.

However, a P picture and a B picture cannot be decoded without a picture being referred to. For this reason, when an arbitrary picture constituting a slide show is to be reproduced by a user operation, it is impossible to decode a desired picture without decoding a nearby reference picture.
Every time a desired picture is played back, all the pictures referenced by that picture must be decoded, so if you try to compose a slideshow from P and B pictures, the operability will be poor and you will create a slideshow. It can be.

In a slide show, individual picture data is not always reproduced in a certain order like a moving image. A process of reproducing arbitrary picture data is required by a user operation. Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to ensure that playback can be performed from anywhere, the video stream that constitutes the slide show is composed of intra-coded IDR pictures that can be decoded independently. In other words, the idea of constructing a slide show from P pictures and B pictures is eliminated, and all pictures constituting the slide show are encoded into IDR pictures.

Accordingly, in the slide show, the entry positions and entry times of all the pictures are pointed to EP_map. In this way, regardless of the picture data that the user intends to decode, any still image can be used for reproduction by simply supplying the picture data to the decoder.
Whether or not the video stream is used for the slide show is indicated by application_type in Clip_Info. Therefore, whether or not this application_type indicates “slide show” indicates “the position of each picture data constituting the video stream” And the reproduction start time has a secondary meaning “whether or not indicated by EP_map”.

Since the application_type of Clip_info has such a meaning, the playback device refers to the Clip_info of the AVClip to be played back, so that each picture constituting the video stream is an IDR picture and does not refer to any other pictures. Then, the playback apparatus can know that any picture is instructed from the EP_map.
Therefore, the playback apparatus can decode a desired picture without decoding previous and subsequent pictures by referring to the application_type when playing a slide show.

The above is the technical significance of application_type and EP_map.
Hereinafter, the difference in EP_map setting between a movie and a slide show will be described through a specific example. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an EP_map setting for a movie video stream (application_type = 1or4). The first level shows a plurality of pictures arranged in the display order, and the second level shows a time axis in the pictures. The fourth level shows the TS packet sequence on the BD-ROM, and the third level shows the EP_map setting.

It is assumed that Access Units (Non-IDR I pictures, IDR pictures) exist at time points t1 to t7 on the second stage time axis. Of these t1 to t7, the time interval t1 to t3, t3 to t5
If the time interval of t5 to t7 is about 1 second, EP_map in the video stream used for the movie sets t1, t3, and t5 out of t1 to t7 as entry times (PTS_EP_start) The recording position (SPN_EP_start) is set in association with this.
Of EntryPoint # 1 to EntryPoint # 4, Entry Point # 1 and Entry Point # 3 correspond to IDR pictures, so is_angle_change_point is set to “1”. The is_angle_change_point in the other EntryPoint # 2 and Entry Point # 4 is set to “0”.

FIG. 14 shows PTS_EP_start and SPN_EP of Entry Point # 1 to Entry Point # 5 in FIG.
_Start is expressed as a set of EP_Low and EP_High. In the figure, EP_Low is shown on the left side and EP_High is shown on the right side.
Among EP_Low (0) to (Nf-1) on the left side of FIG. 14, PTS_EP_Low of EP_Low (i) to (i + 1) indicates lower bits of t1, t3, t5, and t7. Among EP_Low (0) to (Nf-1), SPN_EP_High of EP_Low (i) to (i + 1) indicates lower bits of n1, n3, n5, and n7.

The right side of FIG. 14 shows EP_High (0) to (Nc-1) in EP_map. Here, assuming that t1, t3, t5, and t7 have a common high-order bit and n1, n3, n5, and n7 also have a common high-order bit, the common high-order bit is described in PTS_EP_High and SPN_EP_High. Then, ref_to_EP_LOW_id corresponding to EP_High is set to indicate the first one (EP_Low (i)) among EP_Low corresponding to t1, t3, t5, t7, n1, n3, n5, and n7. By doing this, PTS_EP
The common upper bits of _start and SPN_EP_start are expressed by EP_High.

Among is_angle_change_point (i) to (i + 3) in EP_Low (i) to (i + 3), (i) and (i + 2) are ID_Pictures for the corresponding AccessUnit, so is_angle_change_point is “1”. "Is set. In (i + 1) and (i + 3), since the corresponding AccessUnit is a Non-IDR I picture, is_angle_change_point is set to “0”.
In the case of a movie application such as a movie, once playback is started, subsequent pictures are decoded continuously. Therefore, it is not necessary to specify all Access Units in EP_map. It is only necessary to set an EP_map entry. In this way, in the video stream used for the movie, it is only necessary to set the value of the adjacent PTS_EP_start to be less than 1 second, so that the adjacent AccessUnit and the picture existing at t2, t4, and t6 As for Access Units whose time interval is about 0.5 seconds, there are some units whose playback time points are not indicated by PTS_EP_start. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing how random access to the video stream of FIG. 13 is performed.

Consider a case where random access is executed from In_time (= t6) in the figure. FIG.
Then, t6 itself is not instructed by PTS_EP_start, and t5 is instructed by PTS_EP_start. Since the Entry_Point corresponding to this t5 is set to is_angle_change_point = 1, indicating that it is an IDR picture, it is necessary to pass through the IDR picture located at the playback time of this t5. This is because if the pictures from the IDR picture to the random access access destination are read from the BD-ROM, all reference pictures necessary for decoding the random access access destination can be prepared in the decoder.

In the figure, ke1 in the fourth row symbolically shows this way to t5. However, since random access cannot be accessed directly, this is an overhead of random access.
Next, EP_map setting when application_type is a slide show (application_type = 2or3) will be described. It is assumed that an IDR picture in which PTS is set exists in the slide show so that playback is performed at a plurality of time points (t1 to t7) on the time axis. In this case, the EP_map setting for this slide show is as shown in FIG. FIG.
It is a figure which shows the internal structure of EP_map set with respect to the slide show.

In the slide show, the EP_map is set so as to indicate all the pictures. Therefore, the individual Entry_Points # 1 to # 7 in the EP_map are playback times t1, t2, t3, t4, t5, t6, t7 of the individual IDR pictures in the slide show. Is identified as the entry time (PTS_EP_start), and is associated with the entry position (SPN_EP_start).
Thus, since the playback time of each IDR picture is specified by the EP_map as the entry time, even if one of t1 to t7 is selected as the access destination for random access, it is a detour that the IDR picture passes through the preceding IDR picture. There is no overhead. FIG.
FIG. 17 is a diagram showing random access to a point in time on the time axis in the same notation as FIG. 16. The first to fourth stages in this figure are the same as in FIG. If random access is to be executed using t6 as the access destination among the time points t2, t4, and t6 in the second stage, the time point t6 itself is indicated by PTS_EP_start, so that it does not pass through the previous IDR picture. The recording position (SPN = N6) corresponding to time t6 can be accessed.

All pictures are encoded into IDR pictures so that there is no overhead, and the playback time point of every picture is indicated by PTS_EP_start. Therefore, random access using time information in a slide show can be executed at high speed. it can.
If the Application_Type in CLIP.INFO is shown as 2 or 3 in accordance with the EP_map setting as described above, it can be identified that there is an entry on the EP_map for all the pictures constituting the slide show. By referring to, the range of data to be read out is found, and it becomes unnecessary to extraly analyze the preceding and following streams.

This completes the description of the Clip information according to the present embodiment. Note that a file with the extension “mpls” is not described in the present embodiment, and is described in the second embodiment.
This completes the description of the recording medium according to the present invention. Next, the playback apparatus according to the present invention will be described.

<Internal structure of playback device>
FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the internal configuration of the playback apparatus according to the present invention. The playback apparatus according to the present invention is industrially produced based on the internal configuration shown in the figure. The playback device according to the present invention mainly comprises two parts, a system LSI and a drive device, and can be industrially produced by mounting these parts on the cabinet and substrate of the device. System LSI
It is an integrated circuit in which various processing units that fulfill the functions of a playback device are integrated. The playback device produced in this way is BD Drive 1, Arrival.
time Clock Counter2, Source de-packetetizer 3, PID Filter 4, Transport Buffer 5, Multiplexed Buffer 6, Coded Picture Buffer 7, Video Decoder 8, Decoded Picture
Buffer 10, Video plane 11, Transport Buffer 12, Coded Data Buffer 13, Stream Graphics Processor 14, Object Buffer 15, Composition Buffer 16, Composition Controller 17, Presentation Graphics plane 18, CLUT unit 19, Transport Buffer 20, Coded Data Buffer 21, Stream Graphics Processor 22, Object Buffer 23, Composition Buffer 24, Composition Controller 25 Intaractive Graphics plane 26, CLUT unit 27, synthesis unit 28, synthesis unit 29, switch 30, NetworkDevice 31, Local Storage 32, Arrival Time Clock Counter 33, Source De-Packetizer 34, PID filter 35, switch 36, TransportBuffer 37, Elementary Buffer 38, audio decoder 39, Transport Buffer 40, buffer 41, text subtitle decoder 42, scenario memory 43, control unit 44, and PSR set 46. The internal configuration in this figure is a decoder model based on the MPEG T-STD model, which is a decoder model including down-conversion. In this figure, a part surrounded by a one-dot chain line indicates a part formed as a one-chip as a system LSI.

The BD-ROM drive 1 loads / ejects the BD-ROM, executes access to the BD-ROM, and reads an AlignedUnit composed of 32 sectors from the BD-ROM.
Arrival time Clock Counter 2 generates Arrival Time Clock based on a 27 MHz crystal oscillator (27 MHz X-tal). The ArrivalTime Clock is a clock signal that defines a time axis that serves as a reference for ATS given to a TS packet.

When the Aligned Unit consisting of 32 sectors is read from the BD-ROM, the Source de-packetetizer 3 removes TP_extra_header from each TS packet constituting the Aligned Unit and outputs only the TS packet to the PID filter 4. Source
The output to the PID filter 4 by the De-Packetizer 3 is made at the timing when the arrival time of the Arrival time Clock Counter 2 becomes the ATS indicated by TP_extra_header. PID
Since the output to the filter 4 is made according to ATS, the TS packet output to the PID filter 4 is the current time of ArrivalTime Clock even if there is a speed difference such as 1x speed and 2x speed when reading from the BD-ROM. It will be done according to time.

The PID Filter 4 determines whether the TS packet belongs to a video stream, a PG stream, or an IG stream by referring to the PID added to the TS packet, and TransportBuffer 5, Transport Buffer 12, Transport Buffer 20, Transport Buffer
Output to one of 37.
Transport Buffer (TB) 5 is a TS packet belonging to the video stream.
This is a buffer that is temporarily stored when output from.

The Multiplexed Buffer (MB) 6 is a buffer for temporarily storing PES packets when a video stream is output from the Transport Buffer 5 to the Elementary Buffer 7.
The Coded Picture Buffer (CPB) 7 is a buffer that stores pictures in a coded state (Non-IDR I picture, IDR picture, B picture, P picture).

The video decoder 8 obtains a plurality of frame images by decoding individual frame images of the video elementary stream for each predetermined decoding time (DTS), and writes them into the DecodedPicture Buffer 10.
The Decoded Picture Buffer 10 is a buffer in which a decoded picture is written.
The video plane 11 is a plane for storing uncompressed pictures. A plane is a memory area for storing pixel data for one screen in the playback apparatus. The resolution in the video plane 11 is 1920 × 1080, and the picture data stored in the video plane 11 is composed of pixel data expressed by a 16-bit YUV value.

The Transport Buffer (TB) 12 is a buffer that is temporarily stored when TS packets belonging to the PG stream are output from the PID filter 4.
The Coded Data Buffer (CDB) 13 is a buffer that stores the PES packets that make up the PG stream.
The Stream Graphics Processor (SGP) 14 decodes the PES packet (ODS) storing the graphics data, and uses the uncompressed bitmap composed of the index colors obtained by decoding as a graphics object.
Write to Buffer15.

In the Object Buffer 15, a graphics object obtained by decoding of the Stream Graphics Processor 14 is arranged.
The composition buffer 16 is a memory in which control information (PCS) for drawing graphics data is arranged.
The Graphics Controller 17 decodes the PCS arranged in the Composition Buffer 16 and performs control based on the decoding result.

The Presentation Graphics plane 18 is a memory having an area for one screen, and can store uncompressed graphics for one screen. The resolution in this plane is 1920 × 1080, and each pixel of uncompressed graphics in the Presentation Graphics plane 18 is represented by an 8-bit index color. By converting the index color using CLUT (Color Lookup Table), the uncompressed graphics stored in the Presentation Graphics plane 18 are provided for display.

The CLUT unit 19 converts the index color in the uncompressed graphics stored in the Presentation Graphics plane 18 into Y, Cr, and Cb values.
The Transport Buffer (TB) 20 is a buffer that temporarily stores TS packets belonging to the IG stream.
The Coded Data Buffer (CDB) 21 is a buffer that stores PES packets that constitute the IG stream.

The Stream Graphics Processor (SGP) 22 decodes the PES packet storing the graphics data, and writes an uncompressed bitmap composed of the index colors obtained by the decoding to the ObjectBuffer 23 as a graphics object.
In the Object Buffer 23, a graphics object obtained by decoding of the Stream Graphics Processor 22 is arranged.

The composition buffer 24 is a memory in which control information for drawing graphics data is arranged.
The Graphics Controller 25 decodes the control information arranged in the Composition Buffer 24 and performs control based on the decoding result.
In the Interactive Graphics plane 26, uncompressed graphics obtained by decoding by the Stream Graphics Processor (SGP) 22 is written. The resolution in this plane is 1920 × 1080, and each pixel of uncompressed graphics in the Intaractive Graphics plane 26 is represented by an 8-bit index color. By converting the index color using a CLUT (Color Lookup Table), the uncompressed graphics stored in the Intaractive Graphics plane 26 are provided for display.

The CLUT unit 27 converts the index color in the uncompressed graphics stored in the Interactive Graphics plane 26 into Y, Cr, and Cb values.
The combining unit 28 combines the uncompressed frame image stored in the video plane 11 and the uncompressed graphics object stored in the Presentation Graphics plane 18. By such synthesis, a synthesized image in which captions are superimposed on a moving image can be obtained.

The composition unit 29 synthesizes the uncompressed graphics object stored in the Interactive Graphics plane 26 and the composite image (uncompressed picture data in the Presentation Graphics plane 18 and the uncompressed graphics object output from the composition unit 28). ).
The switch 30 selectively supplies either the TS packet read from the BD-ROM or the TS packet read from the local storage 32 to the TransportBuffer 20.

The Network Device 31 realizes a communication function in the playback device, and establishes a TCP connection, an FTP connection, and the like with a web site corresponding to a URL.
The Local Storage 32 is a hard disk for storing content supplied from various recording media and communication media. The contents downloaded from the website through the connection established by the Network Device 31 are also stored in the LocalStorage 32.

The source de-packetetizer 34 removes TP_extra_header from the AVClip TS packet read from the local storage 32 and outputs only the TS packet to the PID filter 35. The output to the PID filter 35 by the Sourcede-packetizer 34 is made at the timing when the time that the Arrival Time Clock Counter 33 has passed becomes the ATS indicated by TP_extra_header.

The PID filter 35 switches the TS packet read from the local storage 32 to any one of the IG stream decoder side, the audio decoder side, and the text subtitle decoder side.
The switch 36 requests the audio decoder 39 to permit either the TS packet read from the BD-ROM or the TS packet read from the local storage 32.
The Transport Buffer (TB) 37 stores TS packets belonging to the audio stream.

The Elementary Buffer (EB) 38 is a buffer in which PES packets constituting the audio stream are stored.
The audio decoder 39 decodes the PES packet output from the elementary buffer 38 and outputs uncompressed audio data.
The Transport Buffer (TB) 40 stores TS packets belonging to the text subtitle stream.

The Elementary Buffer (EB) 41 is a buffer in which PES packets constituting the text subtitle stream are stored.
The text subtitle decoder 42 decodes the PES packet read into the buffer 41 and provides it for display. This decoding is performed by expanding a text character string in the text subtitle stream into a bitmap using a font that is separately read from the local storage 32. The text subtitles obtained by decoding are written in the Presentation Graphics plane 18.

The scenario memory 43 is a memory for storing current Clip information. Current Clip information refers to information that is currently processed among a plurality of Clip information recorded on a BD-ROM.
The control unit 44 includes an instruction ROM and a CPU, and executes software stored in the instruction ROM to control the entire playback device. The contents of this control dynamically change according to user events that occur in response to user operations and the setting values of each PSR in the PSR set 46.

The PSR set 46 is a non-volatile register built in the playback device, and includes 64 Player Status Registers (PSR (1) to (64)) and 4096 General Purpose Registers (GPR). The 64 Player Status Registers (PSR) indicate various states in the playback device, such as the current playback time point. Of the 64 PSRs (PSR (1) to (64)), PSR (8) is set to a value between 0 and OxFFFFFFFF, so that the current playback point (current PTM) is determined using 45 KHz time accuracy. Show.

The above is the internal configuration of the playback device.
Next, the processing procedure of the control unit 44 will be described.
The control unit 44 controls the BD drive 1 and the video decoder 8 so as to execute random access at the time of reproduction of the MPEG4-AVC format video stream.
On the other hand, random access includes time search. The time search is a technique for accepting time information indicating “what time, what time, and how many seconds” to be reproduced from a user and reproducing a video stream from a position corresponding to an instructed reproduction start time. At this time, the control unit 44 performs a conversion process of converting the time information into an AccessUnit address (also referred to as an I picture address) on the BD-ROM, obtains the address of the Access Unit, and then converts TS packets after that address to the BD. -Read from ROM, and sequentially input the TS packets to the decoder.

The basis of these controls is the process of deriving the Access Unit address from the time information. FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a procedure for converting time information into an AccessUnit address in a video stream used for a movie. In this flowchart, time information indicating a random access destination is represented as In_time. In Step S1 of FIG. 19, In_time is set to PTS_EP_start, and in Step S2, a pair of EP_High_id and EP_Low_id that is closest to PTS_EP_start is obtained. Here, EP_High_id is EP_High indicating a point in time before In_time, and is an identifier that identifies the one closest to In_time. On the other hand, EP_Low_id is an identifier that identifies EP_Low indicating a point in time after EP_High [EP_High_id] and before In_time, which is closest to In_time.

In order to obtain EP_High_id, the control unit 44 adds the time widths indicated by PTS_EP_High of a plurality of EP_High. Here, the time width indicated by PTS_EP_High is a unit of time having PTS_EP_High as the upper bits. Then, in what number EP_High_id, it is determined whether the sum Σ of time widths exceeds In_time. Here, in the kth EP_High_id, when the total sum Σ of time widths exceeds In_time, a numerical value (k−1) obtained by subtracting 1 from k is set as EP_High_id.

In order to obtain EP_Low_id, the control unit 44 adds the time width indicated by PTS_EP_Low of a plurality of EP_Lows to the total Σ up to PTS_EP_High (EP_High_id). Then, in what number EP_Low_id, it is determined whether the sum of time widths exceeds In_time. Where the h-th EP
In _Low_id, when the sum of time widths exceeds In_time, a numerical value (h-1) obtained by subtracting 1 from h is defined as EP_Low_id.

The entry point closest to In_time is specified by the combination of EP_High_id and EP_Low_id thus obtained.
When EP_Low_id is obtained in this way, the process proceeds to a loop process consisting of steps S3 to S5. After substituting EP_Low_id for the variable j (step S3), a loop process including steps S4 to S5 is executed. This loop process repeats the decrement of variable j (step S4) until it is determined that step S5 is Yes. This step S5 determines whether or not the is_angle_change_point (PTS_EP_Low [j] .is_angle_change_point) of the EntryPoint specified by the variable j is 1, and the is_angle_change_point of the EntryPoint specified by the variable j is continuous. As long as “0” is indicated, this loop processing is repeatedly executed.

If is_angle_change_point of the Entry Point specified by the variable j becomes “1”, this loop processing ends. If Step S5 becomes Yes, variable j is substituted for EP_Low_id (Step S6), and EP_High [i] having ref_to_EP_Low_id [i] closest to EP_Low_id is obtained (Step S7). Thus, if EP_Low_id and i are obtained, SPN_EP_Start is obtained from SPN_EP_Low [EP_Low_id] and SPN_EP_High [i] (step S
8) This SPN_EP_Start is converted into an AccessUnit address (step S9).

Here, since SPN is the serial number of the TS packet, in order to read out the TS packet based on this SPN, it is necessary to convert the SPN into the relative number of sectors. Here, as shown in FIG.
Packets are converted into one AlignedUnit for every 32 packets and recorded in 3 sectors, so the quotient is obtained by dividing the SPN by 32 and the quotient is interpreted as the number of the Aligned Unit in which the Access Unit exists. . By multiplying the AlignedUnit number obtained in this way by 3, the sector address of the Aligned Unit closest to the SPN can be obtained. Since the sector address thus obtained is the relative number of sectors from the beginning of one AVClip file, the AccessUnit can be read out to the video decoder 8 by setting the relative sector number to the file pointer and reading out the AVClip.

FIG. 20 shows the time information in the video stream used for the slide show.
It is a flowchart which shows the procedure converted into Unit address.
In the slide show, all the pictures in the video stream are IDR pictures, and the playback time point is designated by PTS_EP_start. Therefore, In_time is set to the address of the IDR picture without performing steps S3 to S7 in FIG. Can be converted. Specifically, in S1, In_time is set to PTS_EP_start, and in step S2, a pair of EP_High_id and EP_Low_id that is closest to PTS_EP_start is obtained, and SPN_EP_Start is obtained from SPN_EP_Low [EP_Low_id] and SPN_EP_High [EP_High_id]. In step S8), an AccessUnit address may be obtained (step S9). That is, Access
The conversion procedure for obtaining the Unit address is greatly simplified.

Here, even in the case of slide show reproduction, the procedure of step S1 in FIG. 19 is executed. That is, in order to obtain EP_High_id, the control unit 44 adds the time widths indicated by PTS_EP_High of a plurality of EP_High. Then, in what number EP_High_id, it is determined whether the sum Σ of time widths exceeds In_time. Here, in the kth EP_High_id, when the total sum Σ of time widths exceeds In_time, a numerical value (k−1) obtained by subtracting 1 from k is set as EP_High_id.
And

Further, in order to obtain EP_Low_id, the control unit 44 adds the time width indicated by PTS_EP_Low of a plurality of EP_Lows to the total Σ up to PTS_EP_High (EP_High_id). Then, in what number EP_Low_id, it is determined whether the sum of time widths exceeds In_time. Here, in the h-th EP_Low_id, when the sum of time widths exceeds In_time, a numerical value (h−1) obtained by subtracting 1 from h is set as EP_Low_id.

The entry point that matches In_time or the closest entry point is specified by the combination of EP_High_id and EP_Low_id obtained in this way.
By the above procedure, when there is PTS_EP_start that matches In_time, it is possible to read out and reproduce picture data from SPN_EP_start corresponding to the one that matches In_time among PTS_EP_start in EP_map.

If there is no PTS_EP_start in the EP_map that matches that point in time, the picture data is read out from the SPN_EP_start corresponding to the PTS_EP_start closest to In_time and played back.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, all the still images are displayed as IDR pictures in a slide show in which a previous operation is not displayed by a user operation and a still image needs to be displayed regardless of the order by a skip operation or the like. It is configured and specified by EP_map so that stream analysis is required.

Also, each Access Unit (Non-IDR I picture, IDR picture) is specified by Entry_Point in EP_map, and only the necessary AccessUnit data can be directly accessed to read the data and flow it to the decoder. Often, the time to display is short.
Note that a flag that guarantees that the EP_map includes the entry addresses of all the picture data constituting the video stream may be recorded in one place in the EP_map or related navigation information.

(Second embodiment)
The second embodiment relates to an improvement for setting a chapter on a time axis in a slide show. Hereinafter, information for chapter definition will be described.
The information for defining the chapter is PlayList information and exists in the file with the extension “mpls”. Hereinafter, PlayList information will be described.

<PlayList information>
Files with the extension “mpls” (00001.mpls, 00002.mpls, 00003.mpls...) Are files that store PlayList information. PlayList information is information that defines a playback path called PlayList with reference to AVClip. FIG. 21 is a diagram showing the structure of PlayList information. As shown on the left side of this figure, PlayList information is composed of a plurality of PlayItem information. A PlayItem is a playback section defined by specifying In_Time and Out_Time on one or more AVClip time axes. By arranging a plurality of pieces of PlayItem information, a PlayList (PL) consisting of a plurality of playback sections is defined. A broken line hs1 in the figure closes up the internal structure of the PlayItem information. As shown in the figure, the PlayItem information includes “Clip_information_file_name” indicating the corresponding Clip information and “Clip_codec_indentifier” indicating the encoding method of the corresponding AVClip.
”,“ In_time ”indicating the time at which AVClip playback should start,“ Out_time ”indicating the time at which AVClip playback should end,“ Still_mode ”, and“ Still_time ”. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between AVClip and PlayList information. The first level shows the time axis of the AVClip, and the second level shows the time axis of the PlayList (referred to as the PL time axis). The PlayList information includes three pieces of PlayItem information, PlayItem # 1, # 2, and # 3, and three playback sections are defined by the In_time and Out_time of these PlayItem # 1, # 2, and # 3. . When these playback sections are arranged, a time axis different from the AVClip time axis is defined. This is the PL time axis shown in the second row. In this way, the definition of PlayItem information makes it possible to define a time axis that is different from AVClip.

It is Still_mode and Still_time that are characteristic in the information elements constituting this PlayList information.
“Still_mode” indicates whether or not the last picture data is to be displayed statically when playing pictures from In_time to Out_time. When set to “00”, Still_mode indicates that the still display is not continued. When set to “01”, Still_mode indicates that the still display is continued for a finite time. When set to “01”, the time length of still display is set to Still_time. When set to “02”, Still_mode indicates that the still display is continued for an infinite time. The display is canceled when the static display is continued for an infinite time by an explicit operation from the user.

“Still_time” indicates the length of time in which still display is continued when Still_mode is set to 01, in seconds.
This completes the description of the PlayItem information according to the present embodiment. Next is PLMark information.
FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a plurality of PLMark information in the PlayList information according to the second embodiment. The PLmark information (PLmark ()) in FIG. 23 is information for designating an arbitrary section on the PL time axis as a chapter point. As indicated by the lead line pm1 in FIG. 23, the PLmark information includes “ref_to_PlayItem_Id” and “mark_time_stamp”. FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating chapter definition based on PLmark information. In the figure, the first level shows the AVClip time axis, and the second level shows the PL time axis. Arrows pk1, 2 in the figure indicate PlayItem designation (ref_to_PlayItem_Id) and designation of a temporary point (mark_time_stamp) in the PLmark information. With these specifications, three chapters (Chapter # 1, # 2, # 3) are defined on the PL time axis. The above is an explanation of PLmark.

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating designation of a slide show by PlayList information. The second level in the figure shows PlayItem information. The second level includes six pieces of PlayItem information # 1 to # 6. In the figure, arrows yt1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 symbolize designation by In_time and Out_time in PlayItem information, and arrows st1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 symbolize designation by Still_Time. Indicate. As can be seen from this arrow, the PlayItem information is set to designate individual picture data in the video stream. Still_Time is set to indicate an interval until the subsequent picture data is displayed. In this way, each piece of picture data constituting the slide show is designated as a reproduction start point and a reproduction end point by six pieces of PlayItem information.

The first level of FIG. 25 shows PLMark information. In this first level, there are six pieces of PLMark information # 1 to # 6. Arrows kt1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 indicate designation by ref_to_PlayItem_Id of PLMark information. As can be seen from this arrow, it can be seen that the ref_to_PlayItem_Id of the PLMark information specifies each of the PlayItem information.
Next, playback using PlayItem information will be described. Since individual picture data in the slide show is designated by PlayItem information and PLMark information, the control unit 44 converts the In_time and Out_time of the PlayItem information into SPNs in the AVClip using the EP_map,
Then, the picture data existing in the SPN is input to the decoder. By doing so, the picture data specified by In_time and Out_time of PlayItem information is displayed. Thereafter, the display is kept stationary only for the period indicated by Still_Time. By repeating the above processing for all the PlayItem information, the control unit 44 according to the present embodiment reproduces the slide show.

Since the individual picture data constituting the slide show is specified using PlayItem information and PLMark information, the preceding and succeeding picture data can be reproduced by functions such as chapter skip and chapter search.
The chapter search function specifies PlayItem information corresponding to ref_to_PlayItem_Id described in PLMark information from a plurality of PlayItem information, and is described in PLMark information in an AVClip in which the specified PlayItem information is defined. In this case, random access is performed from the position indicated by mark_time_stamp. At this time, the control unit 44 specifies and specifies an entry point having PTS_EP_start closest to mark_time_stamp described in the PLMark information among a plurality of entry points. Playback from the Access Unit address corresponding to SPN_EP_start of the EntryPoint.

The chapter skip specifies PLMark information that defines a chapter immediately before or after the chapter corresponding to the current reproduction position, and executes a chapter search for the PLMark information. As described above, the picture specified by the mark_time_stamp of the PLMark information is encoded into an IDR picture, and the PTS_EP_start of the EntryPoint set to is_angle_change_point “= 1” indicates the playback time of this IDR picture. , Entry
An IDR picture can be supplied to the video decoder 8 by reading a picture after the position indicated by SPN_EP_start of Point.

Hereinafter, the processing procedure of chapter search and chapter skip will be described with reference to the flowchart. FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing the chapter search processing procedure.
In this flowchart, first, the chapter selection in the chapter menu is waited (step S124). If a chapter selection is made, the PLMark corresponding to the selected chapter is displayed.
The information is set as the current PlayListMark (step S125). In step S126, the PI described in ref_to_PlayItem_Id of the current PlayListMark is set to PlayItem # x,
In step S127, the Clip specified by Clip_information_file_name of PlayItem # x
Read information. In step S128, the mark_time_stamp of the current PlayListMark is converted into the AccessUnit address u using the EP_map of the current Clip information. Here, the picture indicated by the mark_time_stamp of the PLMark information is is_angle_change_point “= 1.
This is indicated by the EntryPoint set to “.” Therefore, the Access Unit address u indicates the address of the IDR picture.

On the other hand, in Step S129, Out_time of PlayItem # x is converted to Access Unit address v using EP_map of current Clip information. Step S130 is the current PlayListMark
The output from mark_time_stamp to PlayItem # x Out_time is commanded to the decoder. The above is the chapter search processing procedure. Next, the chapter skip processing procedure will be described. FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing the chapter skip processing procedure.

  Step S131 waits for an operation on the SkipNext key and SkipBack key for the remote control. If an operation is performed, step S132 is executed. In step S132, it is determined whether the pressed key is the SkipNext key or the SkipBack key. If it is the SkipBack key, the direction flag is set to -1 in step S133, and if it is the SkipNext key, in step S134. Set the direction flag to +1.

Step S135 is a step of identifying the current PLMark by converting the current PI and the current PTM. Step S136 sets a number obtained by adding the value of the direction flag to the number of the current PLMark as the number of the current PlayListMark. Here, if it is a SkipNext key, the direction flag is set to +1, so the current PlayListMark is incremented. If it is a SkipBack key, the direction flag is set to -1, so the current PlayListMark is decremented. If the PLMark information is set in this way, TS packets are read out by executing the processing procedure of steps S126 to S130 as in FIG.

The above is the processing procedure of the playback apparatus when performing playback based on the PLMark information.
Here, a setting example in the case of setting PLMark for the video stream shown in FIG. 25 will be described. Since each still image that can be played back in the slide show is designated by the six PLMarks # 1 to # 6 in the first row, the still images at the time points t1, t2, t3, t4, t5, and t6 in this figure are displayed. , Can be a subject of chapter search and chapter skip.

In addition, since each time point t1, t2, t3, t4, t5, and t6 in the fourth stage time axis is designated as PTS_EP_start in the fifth stage EP_map, chapter search and chapter skip are performed. In this case, it is possible to execute random access to a desired chapter without performing a detour “through the previous IDR picture”. When executing chapter search and chapter skip, it is possible to read out a desired still image without going through the previous IDR picture, so chapter search and chapter skip can be executed with high efficiency even in a slide show. be able to.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when performing chapter search and chapter skip, it is possible to read a desired still image without going through the previous IDR picture. Search and chapter skip can be executed with high efficiency.
(Third embodiment)
This embodiment is an application of the first embodiment and the second embodiment, and introduces interactive control into the slide show. In order to introduce such interactive control, the AVClip has a configuration in which an IG stream is multiplexed in addition to the video stream and audio stream shown in FIG. FIG. 28 is a diagram showing the configuration of an AVClip according to the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 28, the AVClip (middle stage) includes a video stream composed of a plurality of video frames (pictures pj1, 2, 3), a plurality of An audio stream consisting of audio frames (upper first row), converted to a PES packet sequence (upper second row), further converted into TS packets (upper third row), and an interactive interactive graphics stream (lower row) It can be seen that the second stage IG stream) is converted into TS packets (lower third stage) and these are multiplexed. FIG. 29 shows the internal structure of the IG stream.

The interactive graphics stream includes functional segments called ICS (Interactive Composition Segment), PDS (Palette Definition Segment), ODS (Object Definition Segment), and END (END of Display Set Segment).
ODS (Object Definition Segment) is graphics data that defines graphics of a picture when a button is drawn.

A PDS (Palette Definition Segment) is a functional segment that defines color development when drawing graphics data.
The ICS (Interactive Composition Segment) is a functional segment that defines interactive control that changes the state of a button in accordance with a user operation.
FIG. 29B is a diagram showing the internal configuration of the ICS. ICS consists of a plurality of button information. The button information corresponds to each button on the dialog control screen. Specifically, when the movement key is pressed in a state where the corresponding button has focus, “neighbor_info” indicating which button the focus movement is moved to, and the normal state of the corresponding button, selected It consists of “state_info” indicating in which ODS each state such as a state is represented, and “navigation command” to be executed by the playback device when the corresponding button is determined.

The data structure of the IG stream described above summarizes the contents described in the following publicly known documents. For more detailed technical contents, refer to the following known documents.
International publication WO 2004/077826 gazette Hereinafter, a specific example of ICS will be described.
Here, it is assumed that the ICS has the state_info, neighbor_info, and navigation commands set as shown in FIG. FIG. 30 is a diagram illustrating an example of an ICS that defines dialog control in a slide show.

1. state_info
State_info of Button_info (0) is defined to draw a triangular figure with “top” attached when the button (“top” button) corresponding to Button_info (0) is in a normal state. In addition, when the “top” button has a focus (in a selected state), it is defined that a triangular figure with “top” is drawn in an emphasized manner. According to this rule, the “top” button is treated as a “top” button intended to skip to the first still image.

State_info of Button_info (1) is a button corresponding to Button_info (1) ("+1" button)
In the normal state, it is defined that a triangular figure with “+1” is drawn. Further, when the “+1” button is in the selected state, it is defined that the triangular figure with “+1” is drawn in an emphasized manner. According to this rule, the “+1” button is treated as a “+1” button intended to skip to the next still image.

State_info of Button_info (2) is a button corresponding to Button_info (2) ("-1" button)
When is in the normal state, it is specified to draw a triangular figure with "-1" attached. In addition, when the “-1” button is in the selected state, it is defined that a triangular figure with “−1” is drawn in an emphasized manner. According to this rule, the “-1” button is treated as a “-1” button intended to skip to the previous still image.

State_info of Button_info (3) is specified to draw a triangle with “+10” added when the button (“+10” button) corresponding to Button_info (3) is in the normal state.
Further, when the “+10” button is in the selected state, “+10” is defined to be drawn in an emphasized manner. According to this rule, the “+10” button is treated as a “+10” button that is intended to skip to the still image after ten frames.

The state_info of Button_info (4) is defined to draw a triangle with “-10” attached when the button (“-10” button) corresponding to Button_info (4) is in the normal state.
In addition, when the “−10” button is in the selected state, it is defined that “−10” is drawn in an emphasized manner. According to this rule, the “−10” button is treated as a “−10” button that is intended to skip to the previous 10 still images.

Here, as shown in FIG. 31A, it is assumed that the graphics specified by the state_info of the “top” button to the “−10” button exist in the ODS in the IG stream. It is assumed that state_info is set to such contents, and the PTS in the ICS points to the time point tx at which the xth picture is displayed on the time axis, as shown in FIG. 31 (b). . Then, when the playback time point of the video stream reaches the time point tx, a menu as shown in FIG. 31C is combined with the xth still image and displayed.

2. neighbor_info in ICS
In FIG. 30, when neighbor_info of each object B is referred to
Neighbor_info of Button_info (0) moves the focus to the “-1” button with the number “2” when the left key is pressed, and moves the focus to the “+1” button with the number “1” when the right key is pressed To be prescribed,
The neighbor_info of Button_info (1) is defined to move the focus to the “top” button having the number “0” when the up key is pressed, and “−1” having the number “2” when the left key is pressed.
It is specified that the focus is moved to the button, and the focus is moved to the “+10” button having the number 3 when the right key is pressed.

Neighbor_info in Button_info (2) moves the focus to the “-10” button having the number 4 when the left key is pressed, and moves the focus to the “+1” button having the number “1” when the right key is pressed. , It is prescribed to move the focus to the “top” button with the number “0” when the top key is pressed,
The neighbor_info of Button_info (3) is specified to move the focus to the “+1” button having the number “1” when the left key is pressed.

The neighbor_info of Button_info (4) is specified to move the focus to the “−1” button having the number “2” when the right key is pressed.
With the above definition of neighbor_info, state transition as shown in FIG. 32 can be realized. FIG. 32 is a diagram illustrating state transition in a menu displayed in the slide show.

That is, when the left key is pressed in a state where focus movement exists on the “+1” button, the focus movement can be moved to the “−1” button (hh1).
When the right key is pressed in a state where the focus movement exists on the “+1” button, the focus movement can be moved to the “+10” button (hh2). Further, when the focus movement exists in the “+10” button, when the left key is pressed, the focus movement can be returned to the “+1” button (hh4). When the up key is pressed in a state where the focus movement exists in the “+1” button, the focus movement can be moved to the “top” button (hh3).

As mentioned above, the “top” button, “+1” button, “-1” button, “+10” button, “-10” button are the top, one after, one before, ten after, It is intended to skip forward. Also, when these buttons are displayed, the focus movement on the button moves as the user presses the up / down / left / right key, so the user can select any button from the “+1” button to the “-10” button Can be.

3. Navigation commands in ICS
The navigation command of Button_info (0) is defined to execute Jmp PLMark (1) when a confirmation operation is performed on the “top” button.
The navigation command of Button_info (1) is specified to execute Jmp PLMark (x + 1) when a confirmation operation is performed on the “+1” button.

The navigation command of Button_info (2) is specified to execute Jmp PLMark (x-1) when a confirmation operation is performed on the "-1" button.
The navigation command of Button_info (3) is specified to execute Jmp PLMark (x + 10) when a confirmation operation is performed on the “+10” button.
These navigation commands specify PLMark as a branch destination. The number in parentheses for PLMark identifies the picture that is the branch destination. That is, PLMark (1) is a PLMark indicating the first picture, and PLMark (x + 1) is a PLMark indicating the x + 1th picture. PLMark (x-1) is a PLMark indicating the x-1th picture. PLMark (x + 10) is a PLMark indicating the x + 10th picture. PLMark (x-10) is a PLMark indicating the x-10th picture.

Since the navigation command in each button information specifies these PLMark (1), (x + 1), (x-1), (x + 10), (x-10) as branch destinations, When the button is confirmed, the first still image, x + 1 still image, x-1 still image, x + 10th still image, x- Random access to the 10th still image will be made.
The focus movement as shown in FIG. 30 allows the user to move the focus movement to an arbitrary button. Therefore, when the user performs a confirmation operation in a state in which any button has the focus movement, the confirmation operation is It is possible to cause the playback device to execute the navigation command corresponding to the made button, and to execute a branch as shown in FIG. FIG. 33 is a diagram illustrating a branch by a slide show navigation command. The first level of the figure shows a plurality of pictures constituting the slide show and a branch to these pictures. The second row is the timeline of the slide show, the third row is the entry map set for the second row of picture sequences, and the fourth row is the TS packet sequence on the BD-ROM. Indicates.

The arrows in the first row in the figure indicate the navigation commands (JmpPLMark (1), JmpPLMark (x + 1), JmpPLMark (x-1), JmpPLMark (x + 10), JmpPLMark (x- Symbolically indicate the branch by 10)). By this branching, the first still image, the next still image, the previous one still image, the tenth still image, and the tenth previous still image are reproduced. Since these branches are based on the navigation command shown in FIG. 30, the user can reproduce an arbitrary still image by his / her own operation by such branches.

Here, the playback time of each of the first still image, the next still image, the previous still image, the 10th still image, and the 10th previous still image is specified as PTS_EP_start in the EP_map. If this is the case, random access to a desired access position can be executed without analyzing the stream. In interactive playback using a navigation command, a desired still image can be read without going through a nearby entry position, so interactive playback can be performed with high efficiency.

(Remarks)
The above description does not show all implementation modes of the present invention. The present invention can be implemented also by the form of the implementation act in which the following (A), (B), (C), (D). Each invention according to the claims of the present application is an extended description or a generalized description of the above-described embodiments and their modifications. The degree of expansion or generalization is based on the characteristics of the technical level of the technical field of the present invention at the time of filing.

(A) In all the embodiments, the recording medium according to the present invention is implemented as a BD-ROM. However, the recording medium of the present invention is characterized by EP_map to be recorded. It does not depend on the nature. Any recording medium that can record EP_map may be used. For example, it may be an optical disk such as DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD-R, DVD + RW, DVD + R, CD-R, CD-RW, or a magneto-optical disk such as PD, MO. . Further, it may be a semiconductor memory card such as a compact flash (registered trademark) card, smart media, memory stick, multimedia card, and PCM-CIA card. It may be a flexible disk, a magnetic recording disk (i) such as SuperDisk, Zip, or Clik !, or a removable hard disk drive (ii) such as ORB, Jaz, SparQ, SyJet, EZFley, or a microdrive. Furthermore, a built-in hard disk may be used.

(B) The playback device in all embodiments decodes the AVClip recorded on the BD-ROM and outputs it to the TV. However, the playback device is only a BD-ROM drive, and other components are the TV. May be included. In this case, the playback device and the TV can be incorporated into a home network connected by IEEE1394. In addition, the playback device in the embodiment is a type that is used by being connected to a television, but may be a playback device integrated with a display. Furthermore, in the playback device of each embodiment, a system LSI (integrated circuit) that forms an essential part of the processing
It is good also as implementation.

(C) Since the information processing by the program shown in each flowchart is specifically realized using hardware resources, the program showing the processing procedure in the flowchart is established as an invention as a single unit. Although all the embodiments have been described with respect to the implementation of the program according to the present invention in a mode incorporated in the playback device, the program alone shown in each embodiment is executed separately from the playback device. May be. The act of implementing the program alone includes the act of producing these programs (1), the act of transferring the program for a fee (2), the act of lending (3), the act of importing (4), There is an act of offering to the public through electronic communication lines (5), and an act of offering to the general user transfer or lending of the program by storefront, catalog solicitation, or pamphlet distribution.

(D) The digital stream in each embodiment is a BD-ROM standard AVClip, but may be a DVD-Video standard or DVD-Video Recording standard VOB (VideoObject). A VOB is a program stream compliant with the ISO / IEC13818-1 standard obtained by multiplexing a video stream and an audio stream. The video stream in AVClip may be in MPEG4 or WMV format. Furthermore, the audio stream may be a Linear-PCM system, a Dolby-AC3 system, an MP3 system, an MPEG-AAC system, or a dts system.

(E) The slide show in the first embodiment has been described on the assumption that it is TS for Timebased SlideShow, but it is an AVClip used for TS for MainPath of the Browsable SlideShow and an AVClip used for SubPath of the Browsable SlideShow. May be.
That is, in the Clip information corresponding to the AVClip used for TS for Main Path of the Browsable SlideShow, EP_map may be set to indicate the playback time and recording position of each picture.

(F) Each embodiment has been described based on MPEG4-AVC (also called H.264 or JVT).
Two video streams may be used, and even in the case of other image formats (VC-1), any image can be easily applied as long as it can be decoded independently.

  The recording medium and the playback apparatus according to the present invention may be used for personal use such as use in a home theater system. However, since the internal configuration of the present invention is disclosed in the above embodiment, and it is clear that the present invention is mass-produced based on this internal configuration, the recording medium and the playback device according to the present invention are produced in the industrial product production field. Or can be used. Therefore, the recording medium and the reproducing apparatus according to the present invention have industrial applicability.

It is a figure which shows the form about the usage act of the recording medium which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of BD-ROM. It is a figure which shows typically how the file to which extension .m2ts was given is constituted. It is a figure which shows what kind of process the TS packet which comprises AVClip is written in to BD-ROM. (A) It is a figure which shows the internal structure of the video stream used for a movie. (B) It is a figure which shows the internal structure of the video stream used for a slide show. (A) It is a figure which shows the internal structure of an IDR picture. (B) The internal structure of a Non-IDR I picture is shown. (C) Dependency relationship in Non-IDR I picture is shown. It is a figure which shows the process in which an IDR picture and a Non-IDR I picture are converted into a TS packet. It is a figure how IDR picture in a slide show is recorded on BD-ROM. It is a figure which shows the reproduction progress of a slide show. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of Clip information. (A) Indicates Stream_Coding_Info for a video stream. (B) Indicates Stream_Coding_Info for an audio stream. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of Clip info in Clip information. It is a figure which shows EP_map setting with respect to the video stream of a movie. In FIG. 13, PTS_EP_start and SPN_EP_start of Entry Point # 1 to Entry Point # 5 are expressed as a combination of EP_Low and EP_High. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating how random access to the video stream of FIG. 13 is performed. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of EP_map set with respect to the slide show. It is the figure which showed the random access to the one time point on a time axis by the description similar to FIG. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of the reproducing | regenerating apparatus based on this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure which converts time information into an I picture address in the video stream used for a movie. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure which converts time information into an I picture address in the video stream used for a slide show. It is a figure which shows the structure of PlayList information. It is a figure which shows the relationship between AVClip and PlayList information. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of several PLMark information of PlayList information which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the chapter definition by PLmark information. It is a figure which shows the specific example of PLMark setting with respect to the video stream used by a slide show. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of a chapter search. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of a chapter skip. It is a figure which shows the structure of AVClip based on 3rd Embodiment. (A) It is a figure which shows the internal structure of IG stream. (B) It is a figure which shows the internal structure of ICS. It is a figure which shows an example of ICS which prescribes | regulates the dialog control in a slide show. (A)-(c) It is a figure which shows the menu displayed when the reproduction | regeneration time of a video stream reaches the time tx. It is a figure which shows the state transition in the menu displayed by a slide show. It is a figure which shows the branch by the navigation command of a slide show.

Explanation of symbols

1 BD drive 2 Arrival time Clock Counter
3 Source de-packetetizer
4 PID Filter4
5 Transport Buffer 5
6 Multiplexed Buffer 6
7 Coded Picture Buffer 7
8 Video decoder 8
10 Decoded Picture Buffer 10
11 Video plane 11
12 Transport Buffer 12
13 Coded Data Buffer 13
14 Stream Graphics Processor 14
15 Object Buffer 15
15 Composition Buffer 16
17 Composition Controller 17
18 Presentation Graphics plane 18
19 CLUT section 19
20 Transport Buffer 20
21 Coded Data Buffer 21
22 Stream Graphics Processor 22
23 Object Buffer 23
24 Composition Buffer 24
25 Composition Controller 25
26 Intaractive Graphics plane 26
27 CLUT section 27
28 Synthesizer 28
29 Synthesizer 29
30 switch 30
31 Network Device 31
32 Local Storage 32
33 Arrival Time Clock Counter33
34 Source De-Packetizer 34
35 PID filter 36 Switch 37 Transport Buffer
38 Elementary Buffer
39 Audio Decoder 40 Transport Buffer
41 Buffer 42 Text subtitle decoder 43 Scenario memory 44 Control unit 46 PSR set 100 BD-ROM
200 Playback device 300 Remote control 400 Television

Claims (5)

A recording medium on which a video stream and stream management information are recorded,
The video stream includes a plurality of picture data,
The stream management information includes an entry map and a flag indicating an application type,
The entry map includes a plurality of lower bit entries indicating the lower bits of the address of the picture data in association with the reproduction time of the picture data,
Application types include movie applications and time-based slideshow applications.
When the flag is set to a predetermined value meaning a time-based slide show, the individual picture data in the video stream is pointed at the individual lower bit entry in the entry map. . A playback device that reads stream management information from a recording medium and plays back a video stream recorded on the recording medium based on the stream management information,
The stream management information includes an entry map and a flag indicating an application type,
The entry map includes a plurality of lower bit entries indicating the lower bits of the address of the picture data in association with the reproduction time of the picture data,
Application types include movie applications and time-based slideshow applications.
If the flag is set to a predetermined value that means a time-based slide show, the individual picture data in the video stream is pointed at the individual lower bit entry in the entry map,
Reading means for reading out picture data included in the video stream recorded on the recording medium from the recording medium;
Reproduction means for reproducing video by decoding each of the picture data included in the video stream;
When the flag is set to a predetermined value that means a time-based slide show, the reading unit and the playback unit are configured to refer to the entry map and execute playback start or playback position change based on the playback time designation. And a control means for controlling the playback device. A recording method for generating volume data and obtaining a recording medium on which the volume data is recorded,
The volume data includes a video stream and stream management information,
The video stream includes a plurality of picture data,
The stream management information includes an entry map and a flag indicating an application type,
The entry map includes a plurality of lower bit entries indicating the lower bits of the address of the picture data in association with the reproduction time of the picture data,
Application types include movie applications and time-based slideshow applications.
Recording method characterized in that, when the flag is set to a predetermined value meaning a time-based slide show, individual picture data in the video stream is pointed to by individual lower bit entries in the entry map . A reproduction method for reading stream management information from a recording medium and reproducing a video stream recorded on the recording medium based on the stream management information,
The stream management information includes an entry map and a flag indicating an application type,
The entry map includes a plurality of lower bit entries indicating the lower bits of the address of the picture data in association with the reproduction time of the picture data,
Application types include movie applications and time-based slideshow applications.
If the flag is set to a predetermined value that means a time-based slide show, the individual picture data in the video stream is pointed at the individual lower bit entry in the entry map,
A step of reading out picture data included in a video stream recorded on the recording medium from the recording medium;
A playback step of playing back video by decoding each of the picture data included in the video stream;
When the flag is set to a predetermined value meaning a time-based slide show, a reading step and a reproduction step are performed so as to execute reproduction start or change of reproduction position based on designation of reproduction time with reference to the entry map And a control step for controlling the reproduction method. A program for reading stream management information from a recording medium and causing a computer to execute a process of reproducing a video stream recorded on the recording medium based on the stream management information,
The stream management information includes an entry map and a flag indicating an application type,
The entry map includes a plurality of lower bit entries indicating the lower bits of the address of the picture data in association with the reproduction time of the picture data,
Application types include movie applications and time-based slideshow applications.
If the flag is set to a predetermined value that means a time-based slide show, the individual picture data in the video stream is pointed at the individual lower bit entry in the entry map,
A step of reading out picture data included in a video stream recorded on the recording medium from the recording medium;
A playback step of playing back video by decoding each of the picture data included in the video stream;
When the flag is set to a predetermined value meaning a time-based slide show, a reading step and a reproduction step are performed so as to execute reproduction start or change of reproduction position based on designation of reproduction time with reference to the entry map A program for causing a computer to execute a control step for controlling.

Images